Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen

Finished the book today, thoroughly charmed by the author's tidy and disciplined prose.

Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen

Catherine Morland arrives at the Abbey, and is somewhat disappointed by its relative plainness.

This sentence deserves examination:

"A sudden scud of rain, driving full in her face, made it impossible for her to observe anything further, and fixed all her thoughts on the welfare of her new straw bonnet; and she was actually under the abbey walls, was springing, with Henry's assistance, from the carriage, was beneath the shelter of the old porch, and had even passed on to the hall, where her friend and the general were waiting to welcome her, without feeling one awful foreboding of future misery to herself, or one moment's suspicion of any past scenes of horror being acted within the solemn edifice."

1) The sentence is extremely long, but it is totally clear and grammatically correct. Long sentences like this (as long as there are not too many) always enhance a piece of writing.

2) The repetition of 'was ... was ... was' is extremely effective, adding rhythm and balance to the sentence.

"Northanger Abbey" by Jane Austen

Catherine is on her way to the Abbey with the Tilneys, and now she is riding in the 'curricle' (a light two-wheeled carriage pulled by two horses)) with young Henry, who is an expert driver. Here is a sentence describing his skill, but I have substituted a few words to transform it to a sentence about how I try to teach:

"But the merit of the [classroom] did not all belong to the [students]; [the teacher taught] so well -- so quietly -- without making any disturbance, without parading to [the students], or [raising his voice] at them..."

"Northanger Abbey" by Jane Austen

In the quote below, which originally referred to Mr. and Mrs. Allen's feelings about having the young people leave Bath, I have changed some words to suggest my feelings about losing the graduating class of 2009. (My apologies to all Jane Austen fans.)

"[Mr. Salsich was] sorry to lose [his] young friend[s], whose good humour and cheerfulness had made [him] a valuable companion, and in the promotion of whose enjoyment [his] own had been gently increased."

"Northanger Abbey" by Jane Austen

Catherine is very upset because Isabella, who is engaged to Catherine's brother, has been flirting with Captain Tilney, the brother of Catherine's love interest.

"The Law of Life" and "Nam-bok the Unveracious" by Jack London

I read these short stories this morning, enjoying the excellent inagery and the straightforward and clear style of writing. Here in late spring in pleasant Rhode Island, it was fun to imagine the snowy and frozen scenery in the Klondike of the late 19th century.

Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen

Finally, with the book half finished, the title comes into the story! Catherine will be joining her friend Eleanor Tilney (and Eleanor's brother, who is Catherine's secret love) for an extended stay at their home, which is called Northanger Abbey.

This installment (read online courtesy of dailylit.com) contained some spectacular Austen sentences. I try to teach my students to use parallelism, symmetry, and balance in their writing, and nowhere are these qualities more beautifully displayed than in sentences like these:

"With all the chances against her of house, hall, place, park, court, and cottage, Northanger turned up an abbey, and she was to be its inhabitant. Its long, damp passages, its narrow cells and ruined chapel, were to be within her daily reach, and she could not entirely subdue the hope of some traditional legends, some awful memorials of an injured and ill-fated nun."

Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

Here is a wonderful sentence:

"She knew not how such an offence as hers might be classed by the laws of worldly politeness, to what a degree of unforgivingness it might with propriety lead, nor to what rigours of rudeness in return it might justly make her amenable."

The verb phrase is 'knew not', followed by three lovely and perfectly balanced clauses, starting with 'how such', 'to what', and 'to what'. This is the work of Austen the artist. 

"Northanger Abbey" by Jane Austen

The writing continues to be both plain and elegant, a trademark of Austen's. Here's an example: Catherine is looking out the window and hoping the weather will clear, when suddenly "a gleam of sunshine took her quite by surprise." The simple gracefulness of that phrase is impossible to analyze or imitate; it can only be admired.

Catherine is still in Bath with the Thorpes and her brother and the Tilneys. In this episode, she is hoping to go for a walk with the Tilneys, but, on a rainy day, she decides to accept an offer to visit a castle with Isabella Thorpe and her brother John. (She is hurt that the Thorpes apparently ‘stood her up’.) 

"Northanger Abbey", by Jane Austen

Catherine badly wanted to dance with Mr. Tilney, but he wandered off with another woman. Not a lot happening ...

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"Heart of Darkness", by Joseph Conrad

However, there is much happening in this book. Marlow is telling the story of his journey along the coast and into the jungle. I loved many passages, but these two were special:

"Watching a coast as it slips by the ship is like thinking about an enigma. There it is before you-- smiling, frowning, inviting, grand, mean, insipid, or savage, and always mute with an air of whispering, `Come and find out.'" 

... 

"The voice of the surf heard now and then was a positive pleasure, like the speech of a brother. It was something natural, that had its reason, that had a meaning."

This morning I found this quote in "Northange Abbey", referring to Mr. Tilney's sister, whom Catherine has just met at a ball:

"Her manners showed good sense and good breeding; they were neither shy nor affectedly open; and she seemed capable of being young, attractive, and at a ball without wanting to fix the attention of every man near her, and without exaggerated feelings of ecstatic delight or inconceivable vexation on every little trifling occurrence."

She sounds like a Buddhist!

The 17th installment of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey (delivered via email by dailylit.com) revealed, for the first time, the subtle irony -- even satire -- in the writing. Austen makes the story sound like the saga of a valiant heroine doing daily battle against the enemies of the human race -- when, in fact, all Catherine Morland is doing is trying to deal with the disappointment of not being asked to dance at the regular evening ball at Bath, where Catherine is vacationing. In this episode, the mysterious Mr. Tilney re-enters the picture (he comes to the ball) with a woman on his arm. Catherine hopes it is his sister, not his wife.  

I read a little in Austen’s “Northanger Abbey” today, and as I often do with her writing, I focused more on the style of the sentences than on the plot. Her stories are not especially stirring or gripping, but her sentences are some of the finest I’ve ever read. Whether she labored over them or whether they simply flowed effortlessly from her pen, her sentences, one after another, are small works of art.

As for the story, Catherine Morland and Isabella Thorpe are vacationing in Bath, and have met the ladies’ brothers are striking up a friendship.

In the past two days I have kept up with my daily reading of Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey". Yesterday the author railed against the critics who put down novels and anyone who reads them, and today there was a brief description of a delightful conversation between Catherine and her new found friend, Isabella Thorpe. The best writing, as usual with Ms. Austen. 

In today's installment of "Northanger Abbey", Catherine hopes to see Mr. Tilney around Bath, especially on Sunday, when  "Bath empties every house of its inhabitants, and all the world appears on such an occasion to walk about and tell their acquaintance what a charming day it is" -- but no such luck for the young heroine. She does, however, "taste the sweets of friendship" with Isabella Thorpe, as Mrs. Allen does with Mrs. Thorpe. But where has Mr. Tilney gone??

I got caught up this morning with my daily reading (from DailyLit.com) of Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey". It's a typically elegant and disciplined Austen story, filled with sentences constructed by a true craftsperson. Catherine Morland, whom the author describes as the opposite of a heroine, seems to be  falling in love with two people -- an equally unheroic young man (Mr. Tilney) and the elder Miss Thorpe, an enigmatic young lady from a snobbish family. 

Today I read the third 'installment' of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. I'm reading it online, courtesy of dailylit.com, a website that will send readers daily 5-minute installments of thousands of novels. This was recommended to me by a former student, who has a busy school life and finds it handy to take five minutes each day to read the prepared installment. So far so good. Austen's novel has the style, grace, and wisdom that I expect from her, and I've already developed an interest in the Morland family and their daughter, Catherine. I look forward to the next installment, which will be arriving by email at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow. 

..............

I finished Joseph Conrad's novella, Youth, today and found it filled with elegant and forceful sentences, as well as countless wise reflections on the meaning of life.  It's a story of the strength, idealism, and resilience of youth, as exemplified by this quote: "Oh the glamour of youth! Oh the fire of it, more dazzling than the flames of the burning ship, throwing a magic light on the wide earth, leaping audaciously to the sky, presently to be quenched by time, more cruel, more pitiless, more bitter than the sea--and like the flames of the burning ship surrounded by an impenetrable night."